Having your disability claim denied can be a difficult and often discouraging experience but it’s important to keep in mind some key facts about the insurance process. “The short answer,” says Kirk Sloane, Lawyer at Share Lawyers, “is they don’t really want to pay you, didn’t really want to pay you, and are always looking for a reason to stop paying you.” Unfortunately, insurance companies do not want to pay out anything if they can avoid it. So the reality is that they’re looking for reasons to deny claims from the get-go. In some cases, they may have an easier time...

Medical conditions like multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease can be debilitating, but they’re also relatively rare. Back pain, on the other hand, affects nearly everybody. Approximately 85% of the workforce will experience back pain at some point during their careers, with 50% of Canadians being affected in an average six-month period. That means that a full half of the working public is struggling with back pain at any given point in time; a figure that has an outsized impact on Canada’s public health. Lower back pain carries an annual price tag somewhere between $6...

Carolyn spent her days dealing with one crisis after another. She worked long hours as a Contract Administrator for an architectural firm in Vancouver, BC and there always seemed to be a new problem that required her immediate attention. The job was incredibly rewarding, but Carolyn knew that all the overtime was starting to affect her physical health. Her muscles felt stiff if she spent too much time sitting in front of her computer, so she tried to remind herself to get up a few times throughout the day. She found that movement helped, even if she was only walking to...

At Share Lawyers, we understand that fighting a rejected disability insurance claim can feel like an endless, stressful process. While we do our best to mitigate the worries and concerns of our clients, it can often be difficult to see beyond the end of the process. As a result, many clients haven’t given much thought to what their lives will be like after the insurance company settles. If you have been forced by chronic back pain to take a long-term disability break from work, there are many treatment options you can explore and consider. Whether any or all of these...

Filing a disability claim seems like it should be a simple and straightforward process. The law allows people to receive disability benefits if a mental or physical illness hampers their performance in the workplace, a provision that was set up explicitly to give people the time and resources needed to recover. Unfortunately, the act of filing that disability claim can often turn into an overwhelming situation that leaves people feeling both confused and frustrated. Many insurance providers will try to avoid paying disability claims. They will argue that...

Chronic pain takes as much of a toll on the mind as it does on the body. Studies have shown that when one’s physical abilities are limited, it can cause intense psychological distress. In turn, this can worsen the physical pain that caused that distress. In fact, individuals with chronic pain are three times more likely to develop symptoms of depression or anxiety and people with depression are three times as likely to develop chronic pain. The point is that physical and mental anguish are intrinsically linked, which is why the same illness or injury can take varying...

Pain can generally be categorized into two streams – acute and chronic. Acute pain is the nervous system’s reaction to the presence of an injury. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is unique in that it cannot necessarily be cured and does not go away on its own in a reasonable amount of time. Chronic pain lasts for months, years, or even decades, and is something that people must adjust their lives around. One of the most common causes of chronic pain is back injury. It can be persistent and ongoing, and in many cases physically and emotionally debilitating. ...

As a child, Chris always wanted to help people. So it was only natural that, as an adult, he’d become a personal support worker. He loved his job and relished going to work every day. But working as a personal support worker at a hospital in Winnipeg meant Chris spent most of his days on his feet. It’s a physically demanding job, but he loved it and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Sometimes, he’d notice some back pain from having to lift residents throughout the day. Chris knew the risks and always took precautions but he also understood that all it takes is one bad...